


better off

by Cinma



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Pre-Shippuden, Reflection, Sasuke's Perspective, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 06:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18219572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinma/pseuds/Cinma
Summary: Sakura is many things - brave, resilient, strong, loving - but more importantly, she is a fool.





	better off

Haruno Sakura has always been a little predictable, Sasuke thinks.

That thought only solidifies when he learns of her ambitions and dreams for the future. Coming from a loving, civilian family - it does not surprise him that Sakura has put her training last on her list of priorities. What _does_ surprise him, however, is that he has become an unwilling participant in her daydreams about love and marriage.

Sasuke thinks her foolish, but the first time he sees her climb a tree as easily as she breathes, he understands that there is more to Sakura than he could have ever predicted.

It’s in the Forest of Death when Sasuke realizes she would do absolutely everything in her power to protect him. Whether it was attempting to overpower an enemy with twice her strength using mere traps and a kunai, or cutting off the hair she spent every single morning meticulously styling in order to impress him.

And that thought remains with him as she proves to him, time and time again, how willing she was to lay her life on the line for him. But all Sasuke can think of as she stands her ground against Gaara, armed with only a single kunai, is how much of her potential is wasted pining after a nobody like him. 

Sakura is many things - _brave, resilient, strong, loving_ \- but more importantly, she is a fool. 

So when he decides to leave the village for good, he does it with little to no conviction. Sasuke’s murderer of a brother is alive somewhere, the class failure was slowly surpassing him in strength, and there was not much his - former - home could offer him.

And when Sakura is the only one to meet him on the road outside of the village, he can’t find it in himself to be surprised anymore. She has always been intelligent and particularly attuned to his thoughts and feelings; Sakura’s tears and pleas only manages to strengthen his decision to leave.

So as Sasuke walks further down the path of darkness, he finally understands the things he is leaving behind. He shuts away the memories and image of a tear-stained girl on a bench, ignoring the emptiness inside him that grows with each step he takes outside of Konohakagure.

And he thinks to himself - for just a fleeting moment - about the woman she will become without him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this drabble in 2016 and never got around to properly editing it. I came across it again looking through my files and here we are! I toyed with the idea of Sasuke reflecting on his influence and presence in Sakura's life. Would she have continued to grow with him still in her life? Become who she is today?
> 
> I'd like to think that Sasuke has always been perceptive, that at the end of the day, he went through a hundred different scenarios and thoughts before making the decision to leave.


End file.
